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02/19/2013

Norquist continues criticism of McDonnell transportation plan

He is known for his influence in Washington, but Grover Norquist the president of the anti-tax group "Americans for Tax Reform" (ATR) has zeroed in his focus on Virginia.

Norquist has become a vocal opponent of the Bob McDonnell plan to fund transportation in Virginia and even bigger opponent of the Senate version of the plan as well. Norquist calls them both massive tax increases that don't direct enough money to fixing roads.

"If they meant roads they'd say roads. When
they say transportation they use that term to hide from you that the money is
going to roads when it is not going to roads," he said. "Watch your politicians when they
claim to spend money on transportation. You might be getting bike paths when
you think you are getting more roads."

Norquist is referring to the aspect of the transportation plans that directs $300 million for a rail line from Washington, D.C. to Dulles International Airport.

But make no mistake, Norquist is not opposed to spending money on transportation, he just thinks there is plenty of cash available in Virginia's current tax receipts to do so. He believes politicians in Richmond don't make it a big enough priority.

"If you believe roads should be a priority
as a lot of politicians say they do, when they want raise taxes,
then what were you doing in the last 10 years making it your last priority?" Norquist asked.

If that means taking money from transportation or health care so be it. Raising taxes for any reason is not acceptable in Norquists' eyes.

You may wonder why Norquist's opinion means so much. There is no doubt it carries more weight on Capitol Hill, but in Virginia a significant number of state level leaders have signed the Americans for Tax Reform "pledge". The pledge simply states that an elected leader promises to never vote for any kind of tax increase. Both Lt. Governor Bill Bolling and Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli have signed the pledge, Gov. McDonnell has not.

They aren't the only ones. Nine members of the Virginia Senate including Attorney General candidate Mark Obenshain and Lt. Governor candidate Steve Martin have signed the pledge. Twenty one members of the House of Delegates, including Majority Leader Kirk Cox and Attorney General candidate Rob Bell have signed on.

Many of those elected leaders, Cox for one, have bucked Norquist and ATR and supported the McDonnell transportation plan. A move that not surprisingly, Norquist labeled unwise.

"The good news is that the pledge is not
to me or to Americans for Tax reform it is to the pledge is to the people of
Virginia," he said. "It's probably not a good idea
to support a tax hike if you promised people differently."

The ultimate bill has yet to be revealed, a conference committee is currently hammering out the final details. They were initially scheduled to report a final product Tuesday, but that has been pushed back to Wednesday.

Regardless, Norquist isn't holding out hope."It won't be good," he said about what he anticipates will ultimately emerge.

Governor McDonnell's office turned down a request to respond to our interview.